Delay in suites construction irks MPs

Islamabad - The National Assembly Standing Committee on House and Library yesterday expressed reservations over delay in construction of additional family suites and servant quarters for the parliamentarians and their staff.The member engineering CDA informed that 31 per cent work on the project has been completed and contractors have assured that remaining work would be completed within given time. The member engineering assured the committee that in case the contractor fails to complete the work within given time, the firm will be blacklisted and a penalty will be imposed on it.The committee met under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abbasi in Parliament House and expressed dissatisfaction over the supply of low quality furniture and substandard maintenance work at the Parliament Lodges. The committee expressed its displeasure over the non-implementation of recommendations of the sub-committee, headed by MNA Dr Ibadullah, which investigated substandard job of renovation/fixing of tiles in cafeteria and other maintenance work in the suites of Parliament Lodges.The committee directed initiation of inquiry against the officers and concerned technical staff of CDA who had approved the project of the cafeteria/maintenance work for further legal action against the culprits.The deputy speaker directed the chairman CDA to update the committee about the actions taken in that regard in its next meeting. He said that members had lodged complaints about the substandard furniture supplied in Parliament Lodges. He directed the CDA to take action against the authority that checked the quality of furniture at the time of its purchase. He said that the issue in question would also be brought into the notice of the prime minister and speaker National Assembly.The deputy speaker warned if the CDA failed to take any action against its responsible officers, the committee would hold the CDA responsible for abetting the delay in investigation and would be compelled to refer the issue to FIA and NAB.The issue of possession of plots to the members of National Assembly Employees Cooperative Housing Society also came under discussion. The president of Federal Employees Cooperative Housing Society apologized for delay in the handing over the possession of the plots to the members and assured the committee to allot the plots till April. The deputy speaker said that further delay in this regard will not be tolerated.The meeting was attended by MNAs Mian Muhammad Rasheed, Ch Jaffar Iqbal, Dr Ibaad Ullah, Aqib ullah Khan, Shahida Rehmani, Maulana Qamar-ud-din and senior officers of the CDA, ICT and National Assembly Secretariat.